Peru plane crash deaths 'a tragedy'. Accident occurred October 2, 2010. Cessna 185, Air Nasca, OB-1808. The Nasca Lines.

Gayle Callow: Mrs Callow's ex-husband Scott, 38, said she had ended their 10-year marriage because she wanted to spend more time travelling

Peru plane crash victims Warren Denham (left) and Alastair Rowe (right) 

Andrew Brown 

The father of a man from Buckinghamshire, one of four British tourists killed in a light aircraft crash in Peru, called events leading to their deaths a "tragedy of errors" at an inquest.

Peter Brown's son Andrew Brown, 30, was killed with Gayle Callow, 34, Alastair Rowe, 34, and Warren Denham, 34, when their Cessna plane came down in a field near the centuries-old Nazca Lines markings on October 2 last year.

Two Peruvian crew members, the pilot Ricardo Cardenas Garcia, 40, and Gilberto Ziniga Sanchez, 56, also died. The inquest at High Wycombe Law Courts in Buckinghamshire heard all six people died instantly when the aircraft hit the ground.

Family members of the four British travellers heard fuel could not reach the engine because a cut-off switch had not been checked.

Lisa Fitzsimons from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch said alcohol was found in the pilot's blood, the crew members had been seen quarrelling before taking off, and their preparation was rushed.

Speaking after the inquest in which Buckinghamshire Coroner Richard Hulett recorded a verdict of misadventure, Mr Brown said: "There were a number of things that went tragically wrong, so I think the verdict of misadventure is probably a fair verdict.

"We have to remember that the pilots are dead as well. It really is a series of terrible errors and tragedies. It's not a comedy of errors - it's a tragedy of errors."

The plane crashed to the ground just one-and-a-half minutes after taking off from the local Maria Reiche airport, the inquest heard.

Mr Brown, an IT production manager from High Wycombe, his friend Ms Callow, an NHS manager from Bracknell, fellow traveller Mr Rowe, a project manager from Streatham in south London, his friend Mr Denham, an accounts manager, also from Streatham, and the two crew suffered "multiple injuries" from "vertical and horizontal deceleration", pathologist Dr David Bailey told the inquest.

Giving his narrative verdict to the court, Mr Hulett said: "I will return a verdict of misadventure."